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Monday, 24 November 2014

With a Test victory behind them India women’s team are set to take on the South African women’s side in the three-match ODI series beginning November 24. The hosts are looking to extend their winning streak into the one-dayers of the ICC Women’s championship to qualify for the World Cup.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, India captain Mithali Raj said, “We carry the same confidence (from Tests) into the one-dayers, but then it’s a different format altogether. It’s going to be a good contest playing against South Africa because we are playing the one-dayers (against each other) after a long time. I guess the girls are confident getting into the one-dayers.”

Speaking about the opposition, the batsman said, “What I saw in the Test match is they are a very good fielding side. They have a very compact top-order, they have good 4-5 batsmen. And over all they are a very good side.”

The South Africa team will be drawing confidence from there emphatic 120-run win in the tour match. Talking to the members of the media about her side, South Africa captain Mignon du Preez mentioned, “I think it’s good to get the momentum going again. We are very fortunate that we recently went to Sri Lanka and had a very successful tour there. Now to get back into the ODI format is very nice especially after scoring 300 on a ground restricting India to 180 (in the match against India A). We have had an opportunity to familiarise ourselves to the conditions. And I do think it’s going to help us a lot going forward.”

“We recently toured Sri Lanka where we had similar conditions of the sub-continent. Back home as well we have worked a lot on slow wickets with spin bowlers so I think we are definitely ready,” du Preez added while speaking about her team’s preparedness for the series.Speaking about the difference in conditions, the SA skipper said, “Back home the wickets are lot quicker and more friendly towards the seamers. We get a lot of swing back home as well. That’s probably the biggest difference between playing back home and in the sub-continents.”

Discussing the series ahead and its significance Raj observed, “This is I think the second series for the Indian team in the World Championship since the ICC has got into the points system. So it is important that we play all teams before the ICC Cricket World Cup as qualifiers for the points. And these one-dayers have become much more important for us not only winning but to get the points.”

“We played one-dayers against England recently, just a couple of months back. The girls can get into the one-day format much easier,” Raj said about her side.

“As a player, the more matches we get the better to maintain the momentum as a team and as individuals and that will only help Indian women’s cricket further,” she added. source: bcci.tv